


It Benefits Him, After All

by ChingKittyCat



Series: PSMD Rewritten [8]
Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon, Pokemon Super Mystery Dungeon
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Author Is Sleep Deprived, Betrayal, Conversations, Gen, Lies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-26
Updated: 2020-12-26
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:14:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,522
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28339047
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChingKittyCat/pseuds/ChingKittyCat
Summary: "Do you really think that'll work? Just going up to their face and saying lies?"
Series: PSMD Rewritten [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2057577
Kudos: 6





	It Benefits Him, After All

Xerneas’s power was fantastic. Not a day went by that Hero wasn’t grateful for it. Apparently the reasons why most statues had been immovable was due to Dark Matter having a lot of 'dark energy' and it'd exerting it over the statues to keep them in place. Now that it’d been reduced to a husk of its former self, statue transport was as easy as.. Transporting statues. 

But Xerneas made it easier. They’d done something to their Expedition badges to allow for them to warp statues out of dungeons. Without that, they might’ve had to use up their whole stock of Escape Orbs. 

For today, they were hanging out around the Tree of Life. Hero felt a bit like a bum, just sitting and watching Partner help the newly un-statued Pokemon get readjusted to being outside of the Voidlands. 

Hero sighed, holding tight to their satchel. They needed to keep a watch on Dark Matter, yeah, yeah… Plus, Partner was better with the whole ‘telling everyone what happened’ thing. Hero couldn’t quantify how glad they were to have such an outgoing friend to help them. 

“Um, howdy.” Nuzleaf waved nervously. “What a coincidence seein’ you ‘ere.”

Hero felt a shock go through them as they shot Nuzleaf a bewildered look. They didn’t know what to tell him, but the clear fear on their face said something he didn’t want to know.

“S-Sorry, I uh, I guess ya don’t want to see me. I know I told ya we won’t be livin’ together.”

Hero shook their head furiously, pointing down at the satchel. Nuzleaf didn’t seem to get what Hero was charade-ing out as he cocked his head stupidly.

“YOu.. yoU..! NuZLEAF! I'Ll DesTroy yOU! how DArE YoU DO thiS TO mE!” 

Nuzleaf practically shot out of his skin, scrambling away from Hero and the voice of his possessor.

“W-Why’s it alive!? It’s going to possess me again! Help me!” Nuzleaf yelled in alarm after he tripped on a rock, flailing and scrambling away. 

“thE DeEPesT pIt oF tHe vOidLANds Is WHAT creatUreS LIke YOu deserVe!”

Hero felt Dark Matter’s presence suddenly grow. A terrible darkness shrouded the bag before exploding out into a shockwave. The clearing full of innocent 'mons cried in fear, cowering before the might of the abomination kept in cloth.

Hero felt the core vibrating and pushing against the satchel’s lid. They tried to keep it in, but even pushing with all their might did nothing. Dark Matter flew from the bag and into the air. As it did, Hero watched helplessly as a dark pillar of spiked rocks shot after Nuzleaf. He was too slow and too scared, but thankfully for him, he didn’t manage to get impaled.

Instead, Xerneas shielded him, smashing the spiked pillars to pieces with their psychic energy. The blast knocked Dark Matter out of the air and onto the ground, where in the next second, Xerneas was pressing their spiked hoof directly down onto it.

“hE's LYINg!” Dark Matter accused.

Xerneas’s disgust was hidden in their gentle expression as they ground their spike into the planet destroyer. It managed only a cry in pain instead of a roar of agony.

Nuzleaf watched in absolute horror. Hero felt it was their duty to stay put and let Xerneas do what they wanted. Partner, noticing late, unfortunately scampered over desperately before any more justice could be done.

“Stop! Stop!” Partner yelled. “You’re going to destroy it!”

Xerneas was laser focused. It’s like Partner’s tugs on their legs were nothing but a soft breeze against them. Hero sat there. They watched and they hoped, and they wished, just once, for Partner to not get what they wanted.

Partner tackled Xerneas. That was enough to get their attention and the full heat of their glower. Partner became petrified, stuck in place without so much as an ability to breathe.

“Do you _sympathize_ with it?” Xerneas hissed.

Partner opened their mouth but couldn't say anything. 

Xerneas realized what they said and dipped their head, removing their hoof from Dark Matter. A new crack had splintered across it, with a small hole where the tip of Xerneas’s bladed hoof had stuck into it.

“I… Did not mean to say that. I apologize. It has been tough, even for me.” Xerneas mumbled. “Dark Matter has done me many wrongs. Seeing it attack an innocent…”

“I understand.” Partner nodded. 

“he isn'T innoCENt.”

“Dark Matter, be quiet..!” Partner grabbed the orb before Xerneas could put another deserved hole into it. “Now isn’t the time for your ‘he wasn’t possessed’ games!”

Xerneas glared knives at Dark Matter while Partner brought them back over to the bag. Nuzleaf was long gone the moment he saw Partner coming their way. Hero sighed, melancholic.

“I didn’t think Mr. Nuzleaf would show up today. Normally it takes him and Yveltal longer to get statues.”

They’d been deliberately avoiding Nuzleaf for a while now. After thinking on it, if they were going to be Dark Matter’s babysitters for the time being… Well, probably best to not have the possessor around the possessee. 

“HE WaNtEd Me tO Go down WItH ThE PlAn. He WanTEd ME to BE sOMEonE else'S prObLEM, ObViOUSlY...” Dark Matter mumbled, mostly to itself. Hero didn’t plan to answer that, anyways.

Hero tried to keep Dark Matter from Nuzleaf. It was better for the healing process that he didn’t know it was still around, and it would probably leave him with problems for the rest of his life. It’d cloud his mind with day-to-day terror of being hunted down and possessed again. 

All that revealed in an instant for Nuzleaf to fret over. 

“Dark Matter, stop it. Do you even know what you just did? You could’ve gotten shattered! Is your hatred for Nuzleaf really so strong you’d throw your life away for it? What did he ever do to you?” Partner pouted. “Yeah, you know what, what _did_ he do to you? No Pokemon ever deserves to be po-”

“stOp! stop! I didN'T poSSeSs Him! wHY iS thaT WHat yoU'rE focuSed ON!? i TURn EvERYThIng oN this MIserABlE plaNet intO sTATUes aNd flInG iT INto THe SuN, yET YOu'rE fOCUSED oN NuzlEaF?! On sOmE MADe uP StOrY ABOUT possesSION!?” 

“We’re fixing the statues and we already stopped the planet from going into the sun,” Partner said with a hint of pride, “the only thing left is to deal with your weird hate for Mr. Nuzleaf. You’re just randomly out for him!”

“r-RaNDOm!? He BETrayED ME! I kEEp teLliNG yOU OVeR anD OveR AgaiN, BUt YoU ArE TOo tHicK IN THE HeAD to ActuaLLy LISteN!”

Partner rolled their eyes dramatically and haphazardly shoved the orb back into the satchel. Dark Matter had sputtered indignantly, but do the message that the conversation had been declared ‘over’.

* * *

He honestly couldn’t believe his ears when he had heard Dark Matter again. The shock of it all had genuinely made him wide-eyed at the time. He told Yveltal and the Beheeyem about it after the fact, and they were equally as astonished just hearing it come from his mouth.

Partner had spared Dark Matter. Their 'possessor'. The thing that 'forced the five of them to do horrible acts against their will'. 

Nuzleaf needed to talk to them. One on one. So of course he trailed Hero and Partner after they departed from the Tree of Life. He’d waited for the right moment in the middle of the night, when Hero, Partner, and their extra companion for the day were asleep in a small dungeon clearing.

He snuck into their camp and gently removed the bag from around Partner. They were hugged onto it like an extra pillow. It was cute, though incredibly uncomfortable considering the contents were all probably jabbing and poking their tiny body. Wands and blast seeds weren’t exactly plush.

When he was absolutely sure he hadn’t stirred Partner, he made off with the bag. He fled with a simple Escape Orb, and now they were perfectly able to have a nice, civil conversation away from any prying ears.

Nuzleaf put the bag on the ground, then slowly unlatched the clasp holding the lid on, digging around in the bag before revealing his old friend. The new stab wound did not fit them well. Neither did the gargantuan crack they’d surely gotten from their battle on the Tree of Life.

They gasped.

They shocked him so hard it’s like he got struck by Zapados’s Thunderbolt again. He kept himself from blacking out by quickly scarfing down an Oran Berry that he’d had in his hand from shuffling around in the kid’s bag.

“Look, I know I’m probably the last ‘mon in the whole world you want to see right now, but Dark Matter, you gotta listen to-”

Nuzleaf was electrocuted again. Again. Again and again. 

“I wanna explain! Stop it!”

“yOU caN'T exPLAIN AnYthIng! YOu'RE A traITor! yOu and AlL THOse othER WORTHLess mORTaLS! i'd SoOnER sEE YOU iN ThE GROuNd thaN explaIN AnYthing!”

“I ain’t want any trouble! I’m here to say sorry!”

“You TRAitOR, yOU- You RUINeD ME! Of ALl THesE YEARS- THese- THesE ceNturIes KEEPING to tHe sHaDOWs! NoW everYtHinG- eVeRyone knoWS ABoUt me! HoW aM I mEanT To deStroy THIs PlanEt nOw THat I'm UNDER CONstaNt WATcH, nUzleAf!? You DId thiS tO Me! loOK at me!”

Nuzleaf could hardly look, to be honest. Most his vision was clouded by pain and sparks.

“I'LL never bE ablE To GEt RId OF iT alL. i'LL NEvEr Get ANOTher cHaNce! iT's Your FAUlT. if- IF yOu DIDn't BeTrAY mE, I wOuld'VE wON. I Would've wOn!” Dark Matter took advantage of the two’s isolation to just scream their nonexistant lungs out at him. “i wouLDN't HaVE FOughT lIkE i WAS dISTRacTeD! iF YOu JuSt HElPed mE LIKe YoU were sUppOsED To, If YOu JusT dID wHaT YOU SaID yOu weRe gOIng TO! BuT NO, yOu chIcKeNeD ouT aT ThE LASt SECOnD! i Was RIGHT About yOU!”

“Let me talk!” 

Nuzleaf took them from the bag and almost threw them onto the ground but he managed to restrain himself. He dashed back so that way their electricity couldn’t reach him. He watched as Dark Matter tried to zap him, still, though, as they grunted and hissed in displeasure.

Why they didn’t just float up and send spires of rock at him, he wasn’t sure. Maybe the stab wound had something to do with it.

“Dark Matter. I’m sorry. I want to destroy the world plenty with you, but we all saw what was goin' to happen. The whole planet was comin’ to get us. Partner and Hero are a force of nature, they got through the _Voidlands_. If we didn’t act like we were possessed by you, we would’ve gone down too.”

“yOU-”

“We did it only because we knew that if we did, there was a chance we could do it over. If they thought we were innocent of everything that happened— just like when we were doing our plan— then we can do it over. We will come back from this. I already have a plan in mind to get you out from Hero and Partner’s grubby little mitts.”

Dark Matter’s sparking fell quiet; exactly the reaction he was hoping for. He smiled and knelt down to get more on their level.

“We’re still workin’ for ya. Me and Yveltal will be takin’ over the operation while you’re out.” Nuzleaf tried to explain as smoothly as he could while his muscles still slightly convulsed from all the volts that had been put into him.

“NuZLEaF..”

They’d gone from screaming and yelling to exhausted and beside themselves. A sad, yet relieved fatigue. It made Nuzleaf genuinely a bit somber to hear them like that. They'd always been one of the very few people to not be clouded by misery, but that'd clearly changed.

“ThEre'S No cOmiNg BACk. THE WhOle plaNEt kNows abOUt mE. i'D WorkeD fOr SO lOnG BehInd otHeRs, AnD noW.. I _cANt_. it's oVER.”

“Y’can’t think like that.” Nuzleaf sighed. “You thought it was over back when we met. You had a big ol’ crack in you then, it ain’t different from now. There’s always a solution.”

“NO. I’M Ruined. The pLANeT's desTRUCTiON NOW CaN ONly lIe wItH yOU ANd MorTaLs liKE you. yVelTal wilL be iNvaluaBLe. FIND a wAY to BE RiD oF iT alL.”

Nuzleaf sighed, a little exasperated but happy that Dark Matter was being a bit more approachable and a bit less ‘murder on sight’ now. He scooched froward and reached out to them, surprised that they let him pick them up.

“I promised ya.” Nuzleaf smiled.

“iN tHe meANtIme, I wILl GO aLoNG wITH yOuR story. THe POsSESsion one. It doEs HaVE EVERYonE fOOlEd, and It wOulD haVE MorE if I PlaYED ALOnG.”

“Thank ya.”

That’s really all Nuzleaf was here to get, anyways.

He expressed his gratitude with a hug. Dark Matter said nothing to it, but he was sure they appreciated it. They made the most miserable sounding moan of pain he had ever heard. 

“Y’ain’t ruined.” Nuzleaf reassured emptily. 

Nuzleaf brushed them with a mitt. He felt static latch onto the palm of his hand, resistant to let him go and willing him to keep going.

“I-i NeED MY powEr BAcK, NUZLeAF.” Dark Matter sounded pitiful. “You ShouLD StILL hAVE SoME LEFT, i NEeD-”

“Xerneas did somethin’ to me when I got brought back into the normal world. I think that rotten deer took it out of me when they were un-stoning me.” 

Plus, what would Dark Matter do if Nuzleaf gave it back? Go around stoning people again? Hero and Partner would be bound to notice that all the damage on the orb had healed overnight and get suspicious.

So really, for both their benefits, it’s better Nuzleaf didn’t hand anything over.

“AnD iT waS PrObAblY dONE To the OtHErs AS well.” 

“I reckon so.”

“YOu neED to fInD a waY tO HElp ME WITh ThEsE InjuRIEs, thEY... WEAken me. whEn i AtTacKED YoU at ThE tREE, IT WAs AN eXpLOSIon Of EMOtiOn. tHe AttacK waS HArdLY stRonG, eitHeR.”

“Yeah, I noticed. I’ll try to figure out a way to get some negativity over your way.”

Awkward silence.

“..yOU sHoUld retuRn Me to mY CAPTORs. tHEY MAy WAKe Up And fInd Me AbsENT.”

“Just a bit longer. If I were in your situation, I’d want to stay here for just a little while longer.”

“I.. mMmm..” Dark Matter hummed then fell quiet.

They sat in the quiet night for a small while, just in a little hug. Nuzleaf was glad they could patch things up and have Dark Matter take part in the plan.

Yveltal thought Nuzleaf had a death wish, going out and doing this. But Nuzleaf knew this creature better than any other member of their clique did.

They _needed_ the company. It’s literally how they survived— through people and their emotions. They were so desperate for anything that they took even the biggest, most desperate leap they could to some realm of safety. Dark Matter **wanted** to trust _him_.

So Nuzleaf will let them.


End file.
